As we enter the new year, plans for the future abound. Here at Agate, we’re thinking about leadership. The titles below offer three unique takes on professional development from experts in the fields of technology, business, and finance. Whether you hope to start your own business, or simply wish to brush up on your leadership skills, we have no doubt that you’ll find your fresh start amongst the philosophies of these savvy authors.
More than half of all small businesses fail within the first five years. Starting and running a small business is hard work, and many entrepreneurs feel they must do whatever it takes to succeed, at the expense of their family, friends, and health. Yet, if done correctly, small-business ownership can—and should—balance profitable operations with personal fulfillment. According to author Tom Salonek—founder and CEO of Intertech, a Minnesota-based technology consulting and training firm—this balance is actually the secret to success.
Salonek believes that your business should “give life, not take it,” a philosophy that has helped him grow his own venture every year since its inception in 1991. In The 100, Salonek shares his secrets to business success in the form of 100 concise, nuts-and-bolts lessons for achieving the ideal work-life balance for maximum success.
Whether you own your own business or are simply thinking of starting one, this book will help you inspire teamwork, meet client expectations, clarify your personal values, and create a company culture to match. In addition, readers will gain access to a plethora of downloadable online resources—checklists, worksheets, templates, and more—to help implement the book’s ideas.
Choosing Leadership by Dr. Linda Ginzel
Choosing Leadership is a new take on executive development that gives everyone the tools to develop their leadership skills. In this workbook, Dr. Linda Ginzel, a clinical professor at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business and a social psychologist, debunks common myths about leaders and encourages you to follow a personalized path to decide when to manage and when to lead. Thoughtful exercises and activities help you mine your own experiences, learn to recognize behavior patterns, and make better choices so that you can create better futures.
For three decades, Dr. Linda Ginzel has developed and taught MBA and executive education courses in negotiation, leadership capital, managerial psychology, and more. She has also taught MBA and PhD students at Northwestern and Stanford, as well as designed customized educational programs for a number of Fortune 500 companies. Ginzel has received numerous teaching awards for excellence in MBA education, as well as the President’s Service Award for her work with the nonprofit Kids In Danger. She lives in Chicago with her family.
If You Will Lead by Doug Moran
If You Will Lead: Enduring Wisdom for 21st-Century Leaders provides readers with guidance for any sort of leadership journey. Whether you are a seasoned executive or just starting your first leadership role, this book will help you grow as a leader. Moran has taken Rudyard Kipling’s classic poem “If–” and created a leadership framework out of it that comprises sixteen eternal and essential leadership attributes. He draws on noteworthy historical events to illustrate how great leaders like Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln, Mother Teresa, and others applied these leadership attributes to achieve extraordinary results.
If You Will Lead uses the power of storytelling to teach its leadership lessons. It combines bigger-than-life examples with everyday stories to help leaders apply its lessons to their own leadership challenges, whatever they may be. It’s a practical guide that offers numerous resources and tools to help readers hone their skills and achieve their full potential